Death Relives Review: An Ambitious Indie Nightmare Forged in an Aztec Hell

Horror games have a comfort zone. It’s usually a haunted house, a spooky forest, or a city full of things that want to eat your face. So, when a game comes along and says, "Forget zombies, how about an ancient Aztec god who wants to turn you into a skin suit?" you tend to sit up and pay attention. Death Relives drops you into that exact nightmare, playing as a kid named Adrian who’s trying to save his mom from becoming a ritual sacrifice. It’s a bold premise that, despite some serious jank, mostly sticks the landing.

Credit: Death Relives

A Welcome Break from Haunted Houses

Let’s get this out of the way: the atmosphere in this game is thicker than graveyard fog. The developers at Nyctophile Studios clearly did their homework, rooting the terror in Aztec mythology instead of the same tired tropes. The result is a world that feels genuinely fresh and unsettling. Exploring a massive, oppressive mansion that doubles as a shrine to Xipe Totec, The Flayed Lord, is a welcome change of pace.

What really sells it is the sound design and the commitment to authenticity. Hearing Xipe Totec whispering threats in the actual Nahuatl language while I’m crammed in a locker is a level of immersion I didn't know I needed. It's moments like that, surrounded by stone carvings and artifacts that feel like they have a real, cursed history, that elevate this beyond just another indie horror title. It’s a passion project, and that passion bleeds through every creepy corridor.

The Divine Art of Cowering in a Cupboard

The core of the gameplay is a holy-shit-tense game of cat and mouse. Xipe Totec is not some lumbering idiot who you can easily outsmart. The bastard is relentless, and for the first couple of hours, it felt like he had a divine GPS tracker locked onto my soul. Every puzzle I tried to solve, every item I tried to pick up, was punctuated by the sound of his approach, forcing me to dive into the nearest wardrobe and pray.

At one point, I actually managed to put him down with a few well-aimed shots. It was a fleeting moment of triumph before I realized two things: first, my life is now draining away for some reason, and second, he doesn't stay dead. Using a healing item brought him back, stronger than before. It was a bizarre, frustrating loop until the reality sank in: you don't fight a god. You run. You hide. And you hope to whatever other deities are listening that he loses interest. While the constant hide-and-seek started to wear on my nerves after the fourth hour, the sheer adrenaline of it all is undeniable.

Puzzles, Panic, and My AI Dad

Between bouts of hyperventilating in the dark, you’re tasked with solving a slew of environmental puzzles. Some of them are genuinely clever, forcing you to think on your feet while the clock is ticking. Others, like a particularly obnoxious mirror puzzle, had me questioning my life choices and the structural integrity of my desk.

This is where the game’s weirdest gimmick comes into play: a companion app. Yes, you read that right. The game presents you with QR codes that, when scanned with your actual phone, let you text Adrian's dad, Jeffry, who happens to be an AI. It's a bizarre, fourth-wall-breaking idea that sounds stupid on paper but is surprisingly effective. Getting a hint by sending a picture of a puzzle to my AI dad felt strangely immersive, even if it did yank me out of the game for a moment. It’s a creative swing, and I have to give them credit for trying something new, even if it feels a bit unpolished.

Saving Mom, One Cliché at a Time

While the atmosphere is top-notch, the story holding it all together feels a bit like it was pulled from a dusty shelf of horror movie scripts. I'll be honest, I never really connected with Adrian. He mostly served as a vessel for my own rising panic rather than a character I was rooting for. His dialogue felt stilted, and his motivations rarely went beyond "Oh god, I need to find my mom."

That's not to say the narrative is a total loss. It manages to pull off a pretty effective plot twist near the end that genuinely caught me off guard and re-contextualized the entire nightmare. But getting there required wading through some pretty standard horror fare that didn't quite live up to the creativity of the game's setting.

A Short, Sharp Shock

This isn't an epic 40-hour journey into the heart of darkness. My trip through this Aztec hellscape clocked in at around six hours, and frankly, that felt just right. The game is a brutal, concentrated dose of terror that knows not to overstay its welcome. Given how repetitive the core hiding mechanic can get, stretching it out any longer would have been a huge mistake.

Just know that this is a one-and-done rollercoaster. Once you’ve seen the final, bloody curtain fall and uncovered all the secrets, there’s no real reason to go back for an encore. There are no branching paths or alternate endings to chase, which in this case, is probably for the best. It’s a memorable ride, but one you’ll likely only need to take once.

Rough Edges on a Stone Altar

This is an indie game made with Unreal Engine 5, and it shows in both the best and worst ways. Visually, the game can be stunning, with lighting and environmental details that punch well above their weight. It also runs shockingly well, a small miracle for a small team wrestling with Epic's latest beast.

However, the polish isn't quite there. Character animations are stiffer than a week-old corpse, turning some emotional cutscenes into unintentional comedy. I also ran into a few bugs that forced a restart, and don't even get me started on the unskippable death scenes. Watching myself get turned into a decorative throw rug is horrifying the first time. The tenth time, it’s just an annoyance standing between me and my last checkpoint.

Credit: Death Relives

The Verdict

Death Relives is a flawed gem. It’s a scrappy, ambitious horror game that swings for the fences with its unique setting and mechanics. The constant threat of Xipe Totec creates a genuine sense of terror that many bigger-budget games fail to achieve. The experience is hampered by a boilerplate story and some clunky design choices, but the sheer passion and originality of the project shine through. If you’re tired of the same old horror shtick and want a game that will genuinely surprise and terrify you, this Aztec nightmare is well worth the sacrifice.

Score: 7.6/10 An unnerving history lesson that will flay your nerves raw.

We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.